Tag: Easter

Facts or Feelings: Homily for the 6th Sunday of Easter

Posted on by Father Albert
6th Sunday of Easter, A                                                                                               May 14, 2023Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/C2jvFoaZKcs “Facts don’t care about your feelings.” If you’ve spent any time on the internet or watching debates on TV, you’ve probably come across that claim or something similar. It’s this idea that the truth is what it is, regardless of our experiences and how we feel. People on the Right often use this kind of phrase, but there’s a similar claim by those on the Left. In their efforts to overturn a tradition or reject a certain heritage, they will suggest that...Read More

Salvation by way of Friendship: Homily for the 3rd Sunday of Easter

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3rd Sunday of Easter, A                                                                                               April 23, 2023Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/oOmFW3IRkn8 Last week, we reflected on the role of love, especially in the form of offering and receiving forgiveness, in the establishment of a truly evangelistic Christian community. But there’s a problem with a generic call to “be a community.” How do you actually do it? My challenge to reflect on how much you actually value the faith and forgiveness of others in the community is a decent start. But, left at the level of vague reflection, it’s hard to go anywhere further....Read More

How They Love One Another: Homily for the 2nd Sunday of Easter

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2nd Sunday of Easter, A                                                                                             April 15, 2023Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/tz51ynvOa84 “See how they love one another.” That was the phrase most commonly used to explain why people were converting to Christianity in the ancient world. Not “see how clever they are” or “see how successful they are,” or “see how pretty their buildings are,” but “see how they love one another.” Our first reading gives us a glimpse of this. Starting with Advent, the Church has taken us through all of salvation history: creation, fall, promise of redemption, the old covenants, the...Read More

Betrayal Overcome: Homily for Easter

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Easter                                                                                                                          April 8, 2023Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette Part I of the Triduum Series here Part II of the Triduum Series here https://youtu.be/_EzkdgwV4d8 Betrayal is the second worst thing there is. This has been our theme for the Paschal Triduum that now comes to a close today, the holiest day of the year. Holy Thursday led us in preparing for the inevitability of betrayal by Jesus’ own example of washing the feet of Judas. It showed us that, despite the risk of betrayal, we must offer our trust, love, and vulnerability anyway. It also...Read More

Light in the Darkness: Homily for the 2nd Sunday of Lent

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2nd Sunday Lent, A                                                                                         March 5, 2023Fr. Alexander Albert                                                              St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/tPmcRz_qgxs To shine with the radiance of God, we must endure the cross. This is why Jesus tells his apostles not to share this glorious vision until after he has risen from the dead. It is why St. Paul tells Timothy and us to “bear your share of hardship for the gospel,” because what makes the gospel “good news” is this awareness of suffering and the cross. History bears this out. God promises to make Abraham into a great nation. You know your...Read More

Homily for the 7th Sunday of Ordinary Time: Imperfect Steps Toward Perfection

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7th Sunday OT, A                                                                                            February 19, 2023Fr. Alexander Albert                                                              St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/ELSRlOhK-0k I’m not what I could be… I’m not who I could be. Has any honest person not thought this to themselves? We imperfect human beings have an innate awareness that there’s something more to life that what we currently experience: some greater pleasure, some better situation. Imagining ourselves as better looking, smarter, stronger, more skilled, more well-connected… anything. There’s an innate desire for perfection. At the same time, who hasn’t also felt like that better situation is not actually possible? “I’m not...Read More

Homily for the 4th Sunday of Easter: One With The Father

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Easter Sunday 4, C                                                                                                     May 8, 2022Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/EjmRKNmKjLU He didn’t smell very good and he was only half-covered by the hospital gown. Introvert that I am, I was already timid and uncomfortable simply entering his room – this stranger in a dimly lit room to which I was sent as a kind of hospital chaplain intern. I was not enjoying the experience, I was not exactly happy to do it, and I wanted to get out of there. Then… something happened. It's hard to...Read More

Homily for Easter: The Authority to Love, Triduum Pt. 3

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Easter Vigil                                         Part 3 of Triduum 2022                                  April 16, 2022Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette [See part 1 here] [See part 2 here] https://youtu.be/laRr7ujxiyk Thursday night, we began the most sacred time of the year – the Paschal Triduum – and began also an extended reflection on the meaning of freedom and authority revealed in the life and death of Jesus Christ. Through the washing of the disciples feet and the institution of the Eucharist and the Priesthood, we saw that authority is truly a service to the people over whom it is wielded....Read More

Homily for Pentecost Sunday: A Spirit Greater Than the Force

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Pentecost Sunday                                                                                                        May 23, 2021Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/aqRManLgTZ0 “May the force be with you.” You may have seen this quite a bit on the internet at the beginning of this month, a reference to the popular fictional world of Star Wars. The opportunity for making a pun on the 4th of May is just too good to pass up. Of course, Catholics often add their own flare by responding “and with your spirit.” It think it’s fun. What I don’t think is that force is a good analogy for...Read More

Homily for the 5th Sunday of Easter, B: Tending the Garden

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5th Sunday of Easter, B                                                                                              May 2, 2021Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/cuuQwlxIuaU I tried. Last year, as the pandemic hit, I tried to start gardening, dabbling mostly… Tomatoes, bell peppers, a few vegetables… It did not go well. Most of what I started is dead now, overrun with weeds. The reason why is pretty straightforward: I didn’t take care of it. I started to be a gardener, but I did not remain a gardener, defaulting instead to a passive observer after the first few tomatoes and a single pumpkin. Such fruitlessness isn’t...Read More